The Troubles of Naruto Uzumaki
by GNFreak
Summary: FemNaru. How did she end up being a pirate again? Why did she agree to do this? Now she had too much on her plate because of him. Thanks to him, she now had to ignore the demon inside of her, make sure everything run smoothly on the ship as well as trying to stop him from doing anything stupid was just one of the things she had to s, she really had too much on her plate.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.

A/N: I know I should be updating my other stories but this was in my mind so please forgive me.

* * *

Kushina Uzumaki knew without a doubt it would be a matter of time before she slept forever, closed her eyes for the last time—whatever you called it, the point was that she was going to die and leave her only daughter, her only child, her own flesh and blood alone in the world.

Whoever said that life wasn't fair was right. Not once in her life did she ever think this would happen to her, to her child. Having the world end would be so much better than this hell, even a war would be better than this fate Minato and her had given their daughter. For as long as she held the Kyuubi, she had this one belief that none of her kids would have the curse of being a jinchuuriki. She always believed her kids would never have to suffer from the loneliness that most jinchuuriki suffer from. She did not want them to feel as if they were just a weapon to be used for war like most jinchuuriki felt. She did not want them to be lonely.

It seemed like all of her hopes were just a waste now because this beautiful, sweet, small baby she spent hours and hours delivering, months talking about with Minato and spent most of her life dreaming of having would have to experience this pain. No matter how she thought about it, there was just no chance of the villagers looking past the Kyuubi, past the demon inside of her daughter and see her just as a girl, no a little kid, for who she was. If only there was a way to prevent…

She blinked her eyes as a memory rushed into her mind, effectively snapping her from her worries. Looking down at her bleeding stomach, then to the seal on her daughter's stomach navel, Kushina made her decision on what to do about the situation. There was still one way for her to give her daughter the chance to experience a life filled with friends and love, to have a life where she wouldn't ever to have doubts on who she was, on questioning whether or not she was human. She was going to make sure this small girl in her arms would experience the childhood Minato and her never experienced.

Taking in a large deep breath, Kushina stared and smiled sadly at her husband's motionless body. If he knew of her plans for their daughter, he was going to argue and ask her if she lost her mind in doing this forbidden seal, a seal they almost knew nothing about. It was a seal that hadn't been done since the formation of the Uzumaki clan. A seal her ancestor made forbidden because of what it could potentially do the user, what she could potentially lose but she was willing to take the risk. She was willing to take this risk because this seal was her only and last hope of making sure their little girl would never experience this nightmare.

It would be a nightmare her daughter could never wake up from, an experience that could drive this small girl in her arms insane just like the many jinchuurikis before her.

Unlike her smart but naïve husband, she knew what would happen if she allowed the villagers to raise their sweet, innocent, beautiful little girl. She did not know from experience, thank god she was able to experience a normal life but she did know stories of the jinchuurikis before her. She knew if the stories were true then happiness was not something the villagers would allow her daughter to experience, not when they could not look pass the whisker marks decorating her daughter's cheeks. They would not see a human, they would just see this girl as a monster. The villagers, even the kindest one, would give her daughter a cold look and ignore her just because of the Kyuubi. They would not see her as a child. No way was she going to have a small girl have that life.

"You won't remember this but I want you to know Naru-chan that your father and me never wanted you to have the burden of becoming Jinchuuriki," she cleared her suddenly dried throat and continued with the hopes that she wasn't crying, "We had so much hope, I had so much hope for your father. I dreamt of you having friends, of your father threatening all your boyfriends. I dreamt of you becoming genin and giving you advice on how to be an awesome kunoichi like me. Now that isn't going to happen. I thought since I was a jinchuuriki that you would never experience this burden that you would have the life that a normal kid had. If this seal doesn't work then I'm sorry Naru-chan but I wanted you to have a life filled with smiles and laughter, not one filled with this burden," she whispered to her wide-eyed daughter. With tears streaming down her eyes, she placed her own headband on her daughter's chest before touching her wounded stomach. With her fingers dripped in blood, Kushina began to write down her daughter's name in her headband. For a brief few seconds, Kushina stroked her daughter's cheeks, marvelling how the young girl looked too much like her father and how this might be the last time she would ever touch her daughter's soft cheeks. Once this was done, she started the sealing process.

Gritting her teeth, she touched her wounded stomach and began to draw the seal from her blood. This was the one seal her mother taught her before she left Konoha, before she died from the mission that her uncle sent him on. It was a seal that had been in the clan since the beginning of its formation, only to be used once someone lost hope. Her mother said once the seal was used, the person could never go back home and the user would never be able to touch that person if they did ever see them again.

Considering the fact she was dying and the future her daughter would have if she stayed in this village, it would be better if she lived in a world where she didn't feel hate.

So with her final breath, Kushina slammed her hands onto the cold ground and yelled out the seal jutsu. She watched with tears streaming down her cheeks as her daughter, her crying daughter faded into the air, leaving no evidence to the world she had given birth to her daughter or the sacrifice she had just made.

Ten minutes later when they recovered her body, everyone who saw her body would say she died with a large smile on her face as if to reassure them she had died without any regrets and that she was happy with the way she died. No one would ever figure out the sacrifice she had made or the seal she used. No one would know, but a select few, would know on the day the Kyuubi attacked was also the day Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was supposed to be born.

To everyone in the world, Kushina and the Hokage had died without ever having a child and believed that the Kyuubi had been killed by the Hokage.

* * *

It was a cool autumn's morning when Makino heard sound of a baby wailing outside her mother's bar, where she was clearing out the fallen leaves. Pausing in her sweeping, she scanned the area to find the source of the noise and her eyes widened when she caught sight of a small baby on the ground, where the leaves were now slowly starting to pile up on top of the baby.

Without event thinking, Makino dropped her broom and rushed towards the baby, hoping to save it from suffocating from death. How could she not notice there was a baby in the area? How could a parent be so reckless to leave their child outside in the cold? And where were the baby's parents? Her mother always told her, a baby couldn't look after itself, told her a baby was a fragile being that could be killed by the smallest of things.

She stopped running, picked up the baby and brushed the leaves out of the baby's face and body before taking a better look on the small baby. How old was this baby? She had to asked herself as she tried to hold the baby like her mother's friends hold their baby. She didn't know much about babies, being an only child but was it normal for a baby to have some kind of liquid on them? She shook her head, stared down at the baby before cradling the baby close to her chest like she had seen her mother's friends do with their kids.

Staring at the baby, Makino decided the baby in her arms had to be one of the cutest babies she had ever seen, cuter than any of her mum's friends babies at least. Despite being a baby, the child's head already had tuff of blond-hair, golden like the sun that was currently blazing on them. She giggled when she noticed the baby had beautiful blue eyes, reminding her of the sapphires gems that her mother wished to buy. She felt her heart clenched when the baby started to scrunch her eyes and cried her heart out.

"Why are you by yourself? You're such a cute little baby," she said, smiling down at the crying baby, who suddenly stopped crying. "I should take you to my parents, they might have an idea on what to do. They might know how to get you back to your parents."

As soon as she mentioned the word 'parents', the baby began to wail again. She gulped and looked down at the baby, frightened at how quickly the baby started to cry again. What does someone do in a situation like this? Her mother's friends hummed a tune whenever their babies cried so maybe she needed to hum a tune to calm her down. As she started to hum a little tune, the baby slowly stopped crying and stared wide-eyed at her again.

She beamed at the baby, looked around the area to see if there was any clues on how a small baby got here. She blinked her eyes when she caught sight of a strange headband lying down on the ground, on the same spot where she picked up the baby. Cradling the baby against her chest, she looked down at the headband.

Her throat became dry when she noticed blood was soaked in the headband. She looked at the baby, who looked wide-eyed at her, then to the headband before feeling dread and pity creeping up in her heart. It didn't take a genius to figure out the child in her arms did not have any parents, was an orphan at such a very young age. She stared down with pity at the wide-eyed baby before looking back at the headband. She frowned when she noticed something was written on the headband, just above the insignia on the headband.

 _Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze_

This was all she could make out from the way the blood was spilled. She glanced at the baby, pulled the blanket up and came to the conclusion the child was a girl. Why would someone give a girl a boy's name? She had to ask herself, glancing at the cute little baby girl in her arms. At least her parents given her name, a weird name but it was still a name.

It was sad how such a young girl could lose her parents but at least she would not experience the pain of losing them. She was just a baby to lose her parents but she wouldn't remember the pain of losing them, not like how she remembered losing her father to a terrible disease. Still she had to wonder how the girl's parents died. Did pirates murder them? And if they were then why hadn't anyone notice a pirate ship? Maybe she should ask her mother about whether or not if there were any pirates around the area. How on earth was her mother and her going to explain to this small girl about how she lost her parents?

She smiled, well she was going to worry about that bit later…first she had to convince her mother in letting them keep the girl with them.

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, your parents must have loved ramen and the weather because your name is filled with weather and food," the baby clapped her hands together, making Makino giggle. "I've a feeling that maelstrom seems to suit you. Something also tells me you're going to be a real troublemaker for Kaa-chan and me. You're not going to cause any trouble are you?"

The baby smiled toothlessly at her, making Makino giggle at the child's actions. She tickled the baby's stomach, watching as the baby's face lit up with joy before walking towards the bar, where her mother would be busy preparing to open the bar for the day. She smiled even wider when the baby yawned and slowly closed her eyes.

"Y'know I don't think it'll be all that hard to convince Kaa-chan to let you be a part of our family," she declared to the sleeping baby, "You're just so cute to not let in our family. I've a feeling that you'll fit in our family, Naru-chan."

With those words, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze was soon taken in by Makino and her mother as their ward.

In the years to come, Naruto would lose her mother's figure and would find a little brother figure in a little boy two years her junior who lived across the street to her house. She would have so many fun adventures with her brother-figure and would make her mother's dying wish come true. She would soon make a name for herself and would find the love her parents wanted her to have.

For now though, Naruto Uzumaki was just content to sleep on her sister's figure chest and wouldn't wake up to the sounds of mother and daughter arguing about what to do with her.

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A/N: Thank you for reading, please ask me any questions and tell me what you think so far.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed as well as to anyone who added this story to their favourites and follows.**

* * *

 **Nine years later**

Naruto Uzumaki knew better than anyone else in the village just how far her best friend was willing to prove himself to Shanks, to prove to everyone that he was going to be a pirate. She had known this after listening to him speak three weeks straight of becoming a pirate and how he didn't give into his wish though she knew he would never listen to her. Usually, she was just as stubborn as him and almost always wins in their arguments but this time he did not give in, this time she actually lost to him. She knew right then that no matter how many times she argued with him, no matter how many times she tried to tell him that pirates were bad guys, he would not give in to her wishes and was willing to do everything in his power to show everyone that he had what it takes to go to the sea.

Sometimes she wished the mayor made a rule about how people should not do stupid things or else they would get a very bad punishment. It would make her life slightly easier when dealing with Luffy because then the mayor could help her in dealing with Luffy. Then again, Luffy wouldn't even listen to them if there were a rule about doing something stupid or would ask her why she thought his plan was stupid.

It was during times like those that Naruto really had to wonder how Luffy lacked common sense. All the trouble her friend got into could easily be avoided if he used common sense, if he just used his head for once and not go looking for trouble. Then again, his grandfather was the same thing as her deceased mother would tell her whenever she used to complain about how the younger boy never used his head.

Looking at Luffy's grandfather, Naruto had to agree that her best friend was just like his grandfather.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the pirates coming up the ship, cheering loudly as they talked about the job they just did and the amount of alcohol they had consumed. Shaking her head, Naruto glanced at Luffy, who had a huge smile on his face as he stood on top of the cargo. In his hands was her prized knife, the prized knife she had saved all her money to buy, only for it to be used for Luffy's plans.

Shaking her head, Naruto asked. "Luffy, are you sure about this?"

"Yup," he smiled widely at her, "If I do this then they'll let me go on their next trip!"

"It's going to hurt a lot."

"So? I'm going to show them how tough I am! And if I show them how tough I am then they'll take me seriously."

"Luffy, this is a bad idea."

"Why?"

"Because it's going to hurt you!" She snapped. "It's a knife! Knife are dangerous or have you forgotten what Makino-neechan said to you about playing with knives." He gave her a blank look, making the blue-eyed girl slapped her forehead at him. "Why am I surprise? You never listen to me about this! Fine use that knife but don't come crying to me when it hurts and I'm telling Makino-neechan not to bandage you up since you decided to do this."

"Okay."

"Seriously! No, I'm not going to do it now Naruto! No, here's your knife back!" She cried out, gazing at the blank-faced black-haired boy. He shook his head, making her slump her shoulders at this behaviour. Why was she expecting him to back out now? Her friend was stubborn about these type of things, telling him not to do something was just going make him do it even more. Still what the hell was he thinking of using that knife? And why the hell did she agree to part from the knife? Oh wait, Luffy had just given her a sad face, which was always enough for her to do what he wanted.

"Naruto! Luffy! What are you guys up to now?" One of the crewmembers asked them when all the crewmembers had finally reached the ship's deck. All of the crewmembers had bright smiles on their faces as they stared at the two of them in confusion.

"I'm not up to something…Luffy is," Naruto said firmly, glancing at the little boy beside her. "Isn't that right Luffy?"

"Yup, Naruto-neechan doesn't have the guts to do this!"

Naruto narrowed her eyes at her brother figure while the crewmembers raised their eyebrows at them, waiting for one of the two kids to explain what the younger boy was planning. "I've guts Luffy! It's just that I think your idea is stupid!" everyone raised their eyebrows higher. "This has to be one of the most stupid and worst ideas you ever had."

"What's Luffy planning to do?" The crewmember asked her.

Running her hand through her short hair, Naruto answered. "He's going to hurt himself with a knife."

"This is another stupid stunt right? He's not going to do it. He's not being serious about this is he?"

The younger boy puffed his chest, gritted his teeth at them and had that glint in his eyes that told Naruto more than anything that Luffy was now more determined to do this stupid idea. Rubbing her forehead, she listened as the younger boy proclaimed to everyone in the ship about how fed up he was with them and how they should take him seriously, about how he was going to show them how tough he was. It would have been so cute if it wasn't for the fact Naruto was worried about the knife in his hand, about how much pain he would be in and how she was going to explain to her sister about why Luffy had her knife.

As soon as Luffy finished his speech, Shanks pumped his fist up and laughed at her friend's declaration. "Get it over with!" he declared. "You don't have the guts to stab yourself."

Just as soon as Shanks said that, Luffy placed the knife directly above his eyes and then stabbed the skin right beneath his eyes, causing blood to flow out of the area. For a brief moment, everyone was quiet as they took in what they just witnessed. Some of the crew members just rubbed their eyes, not believing they had just seen Luffy stabbed himself while others gawked at him.

It was Shanks who broke the silence with a yell, "You idiot what the hell was that for?"

"I'm not fixing you up," Naruto declared, trying her hardest not to run over to the younger boy, who now had tears streaming down his cheek. "I told you it was a bad idea! But no you just didn't want to listen! Now look at you!"

"It doesn't hurt!"

She raised her eyebrows at him but didn't say anything, knowing how the young boy would continue to deny it even if she pointed out he was crying from the pain. No matter how many times she used logic against the boy, he would continue to deny her advice. It really was a wonder why she still bothered to give him advice despite knowing he wouldn't listen to her. Shaking her head, she stood there and watched as the doctor rushed towards her best friend with a Band-Aid in his hands while Shanks scolded her best friend for his actions.

Hopefully now Luffy would listen to her when she told him his idea was stupid and dangerous but Naruto knew her hopes were in vain because Luffy never learned from his mistakes.

* * *

Tying the apron around her waist, Naruto watched her older sister filled several mugs with sake before glancing at the customers, who were giving her sister weird looks with the only exception being Shanks, who drank what could be his third sake for her. For as long as Naruto could remember, almost all the males in the village gave her sister those looks, those looks that frightened her because it made her think they wanted to gobble her sister up.

Which was silly because you couldn't eat someone right?

"Naru-chan, can you take the glass of milk and give it to Luffy?" Naruto opened her mouth to argue with her sister but closed it when she saw the number of mugs her sister was carrying. Wouldn't it be mean of her to tell her sister she couldn't when her sister was carrying more things then her? Sighing, Naruto grabbed the glass of milk from the table and made her way towards Luffy and Shanks.

"Here's a toast!" One of the pirates yelled, waving the mug of sake for everyone to see as he gathered the attention of everyone in the bar. Naruto stopped walking and stared at the pirate, who had a wide smile on his face as he looked at her friend then to his captain before continuing. "This is a toast for Luffy's guts! And for our great voyage!"

She tilted her head at the pirates, who were all too busy asking her sister for more sake, telling others to drink up or in one case fighting over the meat her sister made for them. She wrinkled her nose when she saw Lucky Roo was drinking a whole barrel of sake. How could these people drink it? It looked and smelled disgusting. It smelled so disgusting that Naruto nearly threw up when she smelled the heavy scent of sake on Shanks' body.

Luckily for both of them that she knew to hold it until she went to her room to vomit because Naruto would have ruined the man's clothes no doubt about it.

"I'm not afraid of getting hurt!" Luffy declared to Shanks as Naruto placed the glass of milk in front of the boy before taking a seat beside him. "Take me with you on your next voyage! I wanna be a pirate too!"

Blinking her eyes, Naruto couldn't help but stare at her best friend who had a large hopeful smile on his face as he stared at Shanks, who was drinking what could be his third sake of the day. This had to be the fiftieth time he asked Shanks to take him to sea, to let him become a pirate and experience the adventure that they only heard stories of, adventures that he craved to have because this village was the most boring village in the area.

Naruto would never say it out loud but like Luffy, she craved to have adventures, to become a hero and battled beasts that were twice her size. She didn't want to become a pirate, no what she wanted was to defeat that fox which always seemed to be haunting her dreams. She wanted to be as strong as the blond-haired man in her dreams, wanted to have the thrill of battle but she could not have it now. She could not have it in this village, in this place because she doubt she could find a large fox with nine tails and defeat it.

"You? A pirate? Impossible!" Shanks laughed, earning a small frown from Naruto and a scowl from Luffy. "Luffy, do you know why we call you anchor? It's 'cause you can't swim—you just sink! Naruto has more chance of becoming a pirate then you."

"What does that mean? Are you saying it's impossible for me to be a pirate too! Is it because I'm a girl you said that like it's a bad thing! Y'know girls are lot more stronger then boys!" She placed her hands onto her hips and glared at the red-haired man, who laughed at her. "Oi! Why are you laughing at me? What's so funny about what I just said?"

"I thought you said you didn't want to become a pirate Naruto, have you changed your mind?" she flushed bright red, "And who says girl aren't stronger then boys? Last time I checked, you were stronger then Luffy."

"You got that right!"

"No! I'm stronger then Naruto!" Naruto raised her eyebrows at Luffy, "My punches are way stronger than last time Shanks! I've been training hard and my punches are now as strong as a pistol!"

"I beat you in a fight just a week ago," she reminded him, rolling her eyes at him. "And if your punch is as strong as a pistol then my punch is ten times stronger then that gun of yours!"

"A pistol? And a punch ten times stronger then a gun? Is that so?" Shanks didn't look convinced by their words and if it was just Luffy, Naruto could understand but her punch was truly more stronger than a gun. It was so strong that she once broke the ground because she was just so irritated with her friend. Honestly, only Luffy was able to make her want to punch the ground like some weirdo. Only he made her go against the teaching of her mother, who always told her that a girl could not fight like a boy but must act like a lady.

"Are you doubting me?"

"Doubting us!" She corrected, narrowing her eyes at Shanks. "And yes Luffy, he's doubting our strength!"

The other members of the crew shook their heads at them and laughed. "Calm down Luffy, Naru!" one crew member yelled while another yelled, "let's just have a good time!" and Lucky Roo just yelled, "Pirates always have a good time!" with another crew member saying, "The sea is vast and there's a lot of islands to explore!" with the last crew member declaring, "And best of all pirates have freedom!"

Luffy stared at them with wide eyes and a smile so big that Naruto was afraid if he smiled any wider, his whole face would come off. Not that Naruto could blame her friend because the more they hear it, the more Naruto was tempted to become a pirate just like them. She didn't want to explore or go to the sea but what she wanted was freedom. She wanted to be able to fight like the others, to not act like a lady when all she wanted was to tell everyone what she really thought. She wanted to roll in the mud without being worried about what her sister would say about her ruining her dress.

"Stop filling their heads with crazy ideas," Shanks said, taking a bite of the food her sister had given him.

"But it's true!" Lucky Roo stated, swinging his arm around Yasopp. "Right?"

Another crewmember nodded his head in agreement. "C'mon captain…let's take the kid with us just this once."

"If you're taking Luffy then you're taking me with you!" Naruto smiled widely, "I also want to have an adventure too!"

"If we need someone to control Luffy then we'll need Naru-chan!" Another crewmember agreed, glancing at the second plate of food that Luffy was eating. "It isn't a bad idea to have those two with us!"

Shanks sighed. "If we're taking those two with us then two of you have to stay behind."

Immediately, all of the crewmembers who said they could go twisted their bodies around, avoided their eyes as they said,"Sorry Luffy, Naru! No can do!" They declared as they called out for another rounds of a drink.

"I thought they were on our side!"

"Ya think they will give up the sea for us!" She glanced at the clear blue sea. "I won't even give up my dream for you, ya think they would!"

Shanks laughed. "Naru-chan got a point! Besides, Naruto and you are too young for the sea! Maybe in another ten years, I'll give you guys another chance!"

"And how do we know you're going to be here in another ten years!" she crossed her arms and stared at the red-haired man. "My mama used to say it is one thing to say it and another thing to do it! Prove it to us!"

The red-haired man laughed. "Don't you trust me Naru-chan? Have I ever done anything to make you not trust me?"

"You once told me the drink you gave me was apple juice, when it really was beer," he laughed, "You said you would be gone three weeks top but you came back a month later. You once made me have an eating contest with you and said I didn't win just because I didn't drink the drink beside me. You always use dirty tricks!"

"A real pirate would do these things," Naruto pouted, earning a laugh from the pirate, "Did ya think I wouldn't use dirty tricks with ya!"

"No but it still unfair!"

Luffy nodded. "She's right! It's unfair! Unfair! I even stabbed myself in the face so that you could take me with you!"

"Who said you had to stab yourself you idiot!" Luffy gulped at her narrowed eyes, "You think that of all things would have made him think of taking you with him! It just showed how much of an idiot you are!"

"Who are you calling an idiot!"

"You of course! Only an idiot would do what you did!" She growled. "You coulda been killed with that stupid stunt! Anyone with any common sense wouldn't take you after learning what you did!"

"Why are you so mean!"

"Luffy, Naru-chan is mean because she cares," Benn called out, earning a reluctant nod from the blue-eyed girl, "Did ya think she angry with you because she wants to be? If anything happened, you would have died and that would have made her sad!"

"No, she's always mean…just like Shanks!"

"At least I'm not an idiot like you!" He opened his mouth to argue with her but she ran towards her older sister before he even had the chance to say the words. Her sister glanced at Luffy then to her before shaking her head at her. Giving her a small smile, her sister told her to give the menus to the other customers in the bar, who all looked eager to get more food.

Nodding, she grabbed the stack of menus in the table and slowly made her way towards the smiling customers. Each one of them gave her a smile as they took the menu from her, asking her how she was while even a few told her to cheer up because Luffy didn't mean saying those words. She hated fighting with Luffy but in times like these, she couldn't avoid fighting him. She just wished he would listen to her, listen whenever she told him that idea of his was stupid! Only an idiot like Luffy would think of doing what he did. It barely been three months since her mother's death, barely three months since she made that promise to her mother and now she couldn't keep to it because Luffy wasn't going to listen to her when she told him that his idea was stupid.

"Y'know Luffy didn't mean to call you mean," Naruto blinked her eyes at the sight of her smiling sister. She ruffled her blond hair and took a seat beside her, staring at Shanks and Luffy, who were still talking about pirates stuff. "Besides, everyone in this village knows you aren't mean, you're the complete opposite of being mean…out of everyone in this village, you're the nicest little girl anyone can meet! Also the cutest nine-year-old anyone has ever seen as well as the bravest girl they can meet!"

Naruto stared blankly out at the window. "Why do you always say that whenever I'm sad? Do you really think I'm cute? None of the boys call me cute, they all call me ugly with the marks on my face! And Luffy called me mean! He never calls me mean! Makino-neechan am I wrong to scold him? Am I really mean for calling him an idiot?"

"Remember how Kaa-chan used to scold you for playing in the mud with Luffy?" Naruto hesitated before nodding, remembering her late mother's words about how she was a girl and shouldn't do these things. "You used to yell and scream, saying Kaa-chan was a big meanie for not letting you do the same things as Luffy but did you ever mean it?"

Naruto blinked back the tears that threatened to come out and shook her head. "Of course not, she's my mama! Mama can never be mean but I'm not Luffy's mama, I'm his friend."

"It doesn't mean you can't scold him like mama used to," Makino ran her hand through her hair, "And you're cute, you don't need a boy to tell you that! I bet when you're older, you're going to have so many boys chasing after ya! You're pretty enough to be a princess!"

"I don't want to be a princess," her sister smiled, "I don't want to be like the girls in the stories mama tell me, I don't want to wait for some boy to come save me! I want to be the one to save the boys and princess! But girls can't save people. Is it wrong that I have that kind of dream?"

Makino had a wistful smile. "No, it isn't wrong if anything it is just like you to have that dream," Naruto blinked at hearing this, "Ever since you were six, all you ever told Mama and me about having adventures, becoming like those ninjas and knights in the stories Mama read to you. You never wanted to be the princess, probably why you always hated wearing the dresses mother buy for you."

"I don't remember that!" Her older sister laughed, "Why are you laughing?"

"Only nine years old and you'r already forgetting things, is it something I have to worry about?"

"Are you calling me old Makino-neechan?"

Her older sister laughed. "Everyone becomes old Naru-chan, you aren't the exception to the rule."

"What does exception means?"

"It means just you," her sister explained.

Naruto nodded but before she could say anything, the bar doors opened, revealing a dark-skinned man with black hair, a black goatee and an X-shaped scar above his right eye. She gulped when she noticed the sword on the man's waist. Something about the man told her this wasn't a very friendly man like Shanks if anything this man seemed to be the complete opposite from the red-haired pirate.

Without even thinking, Naruto dashed towards Luffy, pulled him by the collar and hid him behind the counter like her. Luffy stared at her, opened his mouth to say something but she shook her head, made the zipping motion before gazing at the bandit in front of her. This was trouble. If her adopted mother was alive then everything would be fine since her mother would have no problem kicking the man out but her mother was dead. Her sister would have to deal with them and Makino wasn't like her, her sister would allow them to eat here even if they looked terrifying.

"Make way for the scourge of the mountains!" The man declared. Naruto growled and snarled when the man started to sneer at the pirate crew in front of him. "So you call yourselves pirates eh? First time I've seen pirates…you look like a sorry lot to me."

Loosening her grip on Luffy, Naruto glanced at her older sister, who stood there sweating at the sight of the man. She gave her a tight expression, telling her more then anything that her sister was not happy at what was happening right now. What the hell should they do? If her mother was alive, the woman would have kicked him in his butt and tell him to get the hell outta here because they didn't serve guys like him.

The man stopped walking when he reached the bar counter. "We're mountain bandits," Naruto gulped and glanced at her older sister, who sweated at this revelation, "Oh, don't wet yourselves. We're not here to bust up the place. Just sell us 10 barrels of beers, and we'll injure as few as possible."

"No!" Her sister looked at her as if she was crazy for saying this, for speaking out loud but Naruto didn't like the idea of her family member getting hurt by this guy. "Our bar doesn't serve guys like ya! Anyone that tries to hurt our customers isn't welcome here! Get the hell out of here!"

"And who do you think you are to tell me no little girl?"

She crossed her arms. "I work in this bar! And I say you get the hell out of here!"

"Or what? You're going to hit me?" He stared coldly into her blue eyes. "A little girl like you has no chance of hitting me and if you care for your life, you'll take those words back. Do you not know who I am?"

"I know you're a stupid and mean bandit who should get the hell out of here before I punch you," she tightened her grip on the table, steadying herself before glaring at the man, "I don't care who the heck you are! Now take your stupid followers and get out of here before someone gets hurt!"

The man growled and took out his sword at her, looking ready to slice her into pieces for the insult she made but if he thought she was going to apologize then he got another thing coming because Naruto Uzumaki won't apologize to him. "I'm going to give you three seconds to leave…if ya don't then don't blame me if you get sent to a whole different city! You only got yourself to blame!"

"One."

The man started to pick up his sword, making Naruto gulped but she didn't waver in her decision of kicking the bandit out. There was no way she was going to let her sister, a kind and beautiful sister serve a man like him.

"Two."

 _Clash._

Naruto blinked and blinked at the sight of the fallen sword from the man's arms and the deadly look in Shanks' eyes. She felt her blood turned cold at the sight of her friend's cold gaze, felt her whole body quiver at seeing the fury in his eyes and gulped at the sight of the sword. She knew Shanks, knew the man knew she could handle her fight better then Luffy but for him to attack told her that she would have been the moment she uttered the last number.

"Nobody tries to hurt my friend," Naruto couldn't help but smile at this. It was times like these Naruto couldn't help but think Shanks was cool. She really did like it when his eyes were all narrowed like that, whenever he did it, he just reminded her of her favourite manga character. She dropped her smile when her sister gave her a look that just told her how much trouble she was going to be when the two of them had their break. If she got into trouble with her sister then it meant she wouldn't get to eat any ramen for a week!

The bandit growled and looked at his fellow bandits. "Kill him!"

"I…I made the situation worse didn't I?" She muttered, watching as the bandits rushed towards the red-haired pirate. The other pirates grinned at each other before rushing to help their captain fight against the bandits. Luffy didn't answer her instead his eyes were fixed on the crewmembers, who all punched and kicked the bandits. She winced as the next five bandits were sent flying through the door.

She gawked when she saw that Shanks only glared at the boss of the bandit to make the man fly away. How the hell was that possible? How could that man do that? Something didn't make sense. She ducked as another bandit was sent flying towards her direction. How could this be possible? There was no power in the world that could send people flying were there? She should ask Shanks about it. Maybe he would teach her how to use it…god knew she needed to get stronger if she was going to go Luffy in his adventures in the sea.

" _You don't need to learn that when you got your own power,"_ a voice whispered in her mind as she watched the last bandit being sent flying through the window. For some reason, this voice sounded almost like that voice in her dreams. It sounded like that scary fox who kept calling her jailor but that fox didn't exist. The fox was just a part of her dreams…he wasn't suppose to exist! No, she thought to herself, the fox didn't exist.

"Shanks…"

"What were you thinking Naruto!" She winced at Shanks' glare. "You shouldn't have tried picking a fight with him."

She scowled. "I don't want Makino-neechan to serve a bastard like him! He's foul and mean…I also didn't like the way he was looking down at ya. Besides, Mama wouldn't have served a man like him…if we had given him a drink then Mama would be angry for us for doing that."

Her sweet mama hated men like the bandits who came here. She used to say bandits like that man didn't care about human life, only care about themselves and would abandon their friends if it meant saving their own ass. They were all the same her mother would say with a bitter smile on her face whenever she asked her why she disliked bandits so much. Pirates were the same but Naruto had her doubts about it. Shanks wasn't like the pirates her mother described, he wasn't a bad person and was always kind to them not like the pirates her mother told her in the stories.

She wondered if her mother would have allowed Shanks into the bar and how she would react if she saw her older sister kissing the pirate.

"Naru-chan…Mama wouldn't have wanted you to risk your life like that," Her sister smiled weakly at her, "Remember what she always told you? To avoid fighting when you can…Mama would have allowed that man to drink here if she knew how dangerous he was. You could have died just now! I can't lose you too Naruto!"

She clenched her hands into a fist. "Makino-neechan, I'm strong! I'm stronger then everyone in this village. They wouldn't be able to kill me that easily."

"You're not invincible Naruto and you're not strong enough to deal with men like those bandits," Naruto blinked her eyes at Benn, "That man could have easily killed you. Your sister already lost your mother, don't let her lose another family member. She doesn't want to bury another family member in the ground."

Makino nodded and for the first time since their mother's death, Naruto saw tears freely falling down through her sister's eyes. Her heart cracked as she realized just how terrified her older sister must have felt, watching her confront those bandits. For as long as she could remember, her sister only cried two times in her life. The day their father died from his illness and barely a year ago when their mother died from a robbery. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks as she remembered her mothers last words to them before she died.

 _Don't you dare cry you two! Naruto! Makino! The two of you must always look after each other, r-remember that family is the most important thing in the world._

Gulping down the lump that was formed, Naruto gazed at her older sister. "I'm sorry Makino-neechan for doing that and I'm sorry that I got everyone here involved," she licked her dried lips, "I didn't want you guys to get hurt but I-I didn't like the idea of going against Mama's teaching. I didn't like them looking at my sister…I wasn't thinking when I did it."

"Sorry to interrupt the heartfelt confession but the treasure box is open!" A crew member yelled, pointing towards the box. Naruto glanced at Makino, who frowned and shook her head at her. "The gum gum fruit that we took from the enemy ship isn't there!"

"Luffy D. Monkey tell me you didn't eat their treasure!" Naruto screeched. If that idiot ate the fruit then it meant trouble for him. She didn't know what the big deal was but from everyone's expression that treasure wasn't meant for anyone to eat. Though, to be fair on Luffy, the pirates were idiots to bring food here. Haven't they learnt from the amount of arguing she had with Luffy that the boy had a nose like a hound when it came to food.

"N-No."

"Liar! You have a nose like a dog when it comes to food and you're making that face that you always make whenever you lie to me," Luffy laughed nervously, "Don't you dare laugh Luffy. You just ate a piece of treasure!"

"Not just any treasure! That was the gum gum fruit!" Shanks yelled, rushing towards Luffy. He grabbed Luffy by the mouth, giving the boy a look that just told Naruto how much trouble he was in. "The devil's fruit is one of the secret treasures of the sea! If you eat it, your entire body becomes like rubber! You'll never swim for the rest of your life!"

"What?" Luffy cried. "No!"

"You idiot!"

They really should have seen this coming, Naruto mused as she cleaned up the mess the bandits and pirate made, if they wanted to protect that fruit then they shouldn't have brought that fruit here. Perhaps, it might had been fate that allowed Luffy to eat that fruit or just mere forgetfulness on Shanks part.

Either way, she had a feeling the next couple of years was going to be interesting thanks to this.

* * *

Q&A

Q: Can Naruto's hair split into nine tails like her mother does when she get mad?

A: In the future, right now her hair isn't long enough to do that.

Q: Is Naruto gonna be a pirate or marine?

A: She's going to be a pirate.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading, please ask me any questions and tell me what you think so far.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter as well as everyone who added this story to their favourites and follows.**

* * *

It was the sound of her best friend's screeching which woke up Naruto from the first peaceful dream that she had in ages. For the first time in weeks, she didn't dream of monster foxes or of the sad red-haired woman who kept begging for forgivness from her. No, for the first time in weeks, she found herself wondering through the seas with her best friend in her dreams. She dreamt of finding the treasure that the pirates were searching for, dreamt of having the adventures that she could only hear stories about. It was the best dream she had in weeks-and it was ruined by her best friend waking her up with his screams.

She rubbed her blurry eyes, glanced at the alarm clock and kicked her orange blankets off her bed. Immediately, Naruto shivered from the cold which surrounded her room. How could she forget how cold her room can be during the autumn? She asked herself as she wrapped the blankets over her body until she felt like a caterpilla in its cacoon. Makino always reminded her she should make sure to never wear her nightdress during this weather even if she did feel warm, saying that she better be safe than sorry. Her big sister also reminded her how she should never leave the window open during the night.

She should have listened to her sister when it came to the window because her room was absolutely freezing now.

The blonde shook her head and stared out at the window, where she could make out the distant figures which were Luffy and Garp. The old man must be taking Luffy out for some training holiday again, Naruto mused to herself as she made her way towards the open window. The old man was always dragging Luffy out to do some insane training regeime so that he could become a good Marine. Sometimes when Garp was feeling generous (more like tortorus in her mind) he would drag her along with them. He said it was sure she could be an excellent Marine like him but Naruto wondered it was sure he could torture her.

Letting out a breath, Naruto leaned forward and strained her ears to hear what Luffy was complaining about this time.

"I told you, Gramps!" Luffy crield to his grandfather and to Naruto's chargin, she could now clearly see the fact Garp was dragging Luffy by the cheek. "I am gonna have a pirate crew with Naruto! I'm gonna become Pirate King!"

Naruto licked her cracked lips at her friend's declaration, wondering for the first time in years why her friend wanted her to join him. Ever since the death of her mother, she made it clear to Luffy she could not become a pirate. She told him time in and time out how she couldn't just leave Makino by herself. The green-haired woman only had her. What would happen to Makino if she just simply decided to leave her? Makino could take care of herself but Naruto knew her sister would be worried to death about her actions. She did not want to be the reason for her sister's demise. Besides, pirates was nothing but trouble as her mother would remind her time in and time out whenever talks of pirates were whispered in the bar.

The only reason why she would become a pirate was so she could understand her dreams because the answers to her nightmares might just lay in the vast sea, where there might be lands filled with people who knew why those dreams of hers felt so lifelike.

"You actually managed to wake up before I have to drag your sleepy self downstaires for breakfast," Makino teased. Naruto swirled around and grinned when she caught sight of her sister leaning against the door with a ladle in one hand and a pan in another hand . "I guess there was no point for me to bring these up."

"Good morning, Makino-neechan!" Naruto greeted her big sister. Unwrapping herself from her blankets, the blue-eyed girl hurled herself at the older teen, who dropped the items in her hand so that she could catch her. Her sister laughed, wrapped her arms around her and then placed her head on top of Naruto's head. "What did you make for breakfast?"

"Before I answer your question Naruto, mind telling me what were you watching just now?" Makino questioned her with her arms folded against her chest. Her sister glanced at Naruto's bed, which looked like a tornado had came into her bed, before looking back at her. "It must be something for you to drag yourself out of your room."

"Garp is back, Makino-neechan," Naruto explained, looking up at her sister with a small frown on her face. Her sister smiled and nodded her head, not looking one bit worried at the fact that Luffy was going to be forced to do some insane training again."He is going to drag Luffy to somehwere dangerous again and…"

"And you thought by listening in on their conversation, you can find out where the two of them were going so that you can join Luffy in on his fun," her sister summarized, letting out a sigh as soon as she finished saying the last word.

Naruto nodded and looked at her sister with wide eyes. How did her sister know about her plans? She hadn't even decided what she was going to do when she found out where Luffy was going to go. Sure there was a possibility for her to join Luffy in his hellish training but Naruto wouldn't go there without her sister's permission. Okay, she would still do it without her sister's permission. But she would still tell Makino where she was going to be if she wasn't back home before her sister come back from work.

"How did you know?"

"Because you always try your best to follow Luffy whenever Garp makes him go through his training," Makino answered, shaking her head at her. The smile on her sister's lips faded and replaced with a frown. "But this time you aren't allowed to follow Garp and Luffy."

"What? Why not?"

"Because you are still grounded for nearly causing the fight with the bandits," Makino replied with a grimace on her face. The blonde winced at the reminder of the fight she caused with the bandits who had threatened to hurt their customers. Even though Shanks beat them up, her sister was still upset she nearly gotten herself hurt by those idiotic bastards. It was because she nearly lost her that her sister was so upset with her or so Benn had told her. Benn reminded her how her sister didn't want to lose her too.

"I couldn't just stand there and let them threaten our customers," Naruto grumbled with her arms folded against her chest. "Mama would never have allowed them into the bar when she knew they will cause nothing but trouble for us. She would have done the same thing as me but I didn't mean for Shanks to get involved or for them to involve Luffy."

Makino softened her eyes when she heard this. "I know you didn't mean for any of that to happen but you shouldn't get involved with fights which could have easily been avoided. I told you before that Mama would have served them if she knew how dangerous they were because she never wanted any innocent people to get hurt. No matter what Naruto, you should also value your life too."

With that sad look on her sister's face, Naruto felt like she was the worse person in the world for making her happy sister feel like crap.

"Makino-neechan, I'm sorry."

"I know you are Naruto but I want you to realize that temper of yours is going to get you into a lot of trouble," her sister said with a tight smile on her face. "You were lucky that Shanks was there to deal with those bandits because Naruto that was a very dangerous situation you put yourself into. You could have gotten yourself hurt or worse killed because you picked a fight with them. I don't want to bury you too, Naru-chan. I don't want you to leave me in that way."

"I am never going to leave you, Makino-neechan!" Naruto declared.

Makino stared long and hard at her before shaking her head at her. "Naruto, you want to be able to save people right? Well, you won't accomplish your dream staying in this village and I know you know it," Naruto looked down at the floor and her sister just sighed before continuing on. "You might deny it Naru-chan but I can see how your eyes linger at the sea and how it lights up when Luffy describes the adventures he plans to have with you. You might think you need to be here with me but I don't want to be the reason why you won't chase your dreams. Mama wouldn't have accepted you going to the sea but she would have understand that you were following your heart's desire."

"What does desire mean?"

"It means what you want to do," her sister answered, pushing herself off the ground. "No one will blame you if you want to go with Luffy and be a pirate," Makino smiled and looked out at one of the last family photo that the two of them had with their smiling parents. "It will actually surprise me if you don't become a pirate because I know Shanks and Luffy had been filling your head with ideas on what life out there in the sea would be like for you."

"Mama wouldn't be happy with me if I become a pirate," Naruto muttered, glancing at the photo of her late mother. "She always said pirates would bring nothing but trouble to the people around them. I don't want that. I don't want Mama to be disappointed with my choices."

Her sister shook her head and placed her arms around Naruto's small body. "Mama might hate pirates but she wouldn't hate you. She would have tried talking you out of it but she would know there was no point of telling you no because, the sea calls out for you just like it calls for Luffy. Mama thought being in this village would make you happy but Naruto I know you will never be really happy here. You aren't meant to live a life filled with no adventures. I want you to be happy and I want you to know if you want to go and become a pirate then I will support you the whole way."

Naruto grinned at her sister's words. Would her mother be really understanding about her dreams like her sister thought she would be? Her Mama had been disappointed at how she disliked wearing dresses and her desire to play with the boys instead of playing dolls with the other girls in the village. Would she understand the burning desire she had to protect the people of this place without following the rules? Would she get the idea how Naruto felt uncomfortable now of leaving Luffy to travel the sea by himself? Because no matter how strong Luffy was, she couldn't leave him alone in the sea.

How could she when she knew there was no chance of Luffy survivng in the sea?

* * *

Makino was going to ground her for life when she found out she lied to her, Naruto thought to herself as she walked through the mountain which stood behind her small town. She knew her groundment hadn't ended but it couldn't be helped. The moment she overheard Woop Slap tell her sister about where Luffy had run off to was the moment she knew she would have to disappoint her sister. It was hard going to the playground and not see the little boy smiling widely at her. It was weird not to see Luffy running into the bar and telling her his plans for their future as pirates. Luffy was a huge part of her life and she needed to see him as much as she could.

Which is why she was going through the mountains that her mother warned her not to go to. Mama always told her how there were just so many scary monsters in this mountain, who wouldn't hesistate to eat her. Now her mama could be making this up as a way to make sure she would obey her because Naruto knew if Luffy could survive this mountain then she could as well. Between the two of them, she had always been the stronger one.

She could feel the blood pounding through her ears as she caught sight of hungry animals, who bared their fangs and sharp teeth at her. Naruto forced herself to smile at these animals and continued to walk through the path given to her. Fear would not allow her to survive in these woods, she reminded herself. Animals could smell fear and would attack her because of the fact they thought she could be prey. There was no way she would allow these beasts to see as dinner.

The blue-eyed girl stopped walking when she smelled the familiar scent of her best friend. There was only one person in the entire world who could smelled like BBQ and that was Luffy. Right, did she have the spare clothes that Luffy left at her house? She checked her backpack and nodded. Did she have a whole speech ready for him? Yes, she did. Now the only thing left for her was to find Garp and give him a piece of her mind. Makino might say that Garp was training Luffy to become strong but it didn't mean the old man had to take him away from her. He should have taken her with him.

Naruto didn't want to go through anymore terrible training without her by his side.

"Naruto! What are you doing here?"

Blinking her eyes, Naruto was taken back by the sight of a battered Luffy standing in front of her with a large smile on his face. She mentally listed all the injuries her friend had, including several bruises on his face and arms as well as a black eye. How could he have gotten himself so injured in just one week alone? Naruto questioned herself as she hugged the younger boy. She knew from experience that Garp's training was tough but had it been so difficult that Luffy had to get himself so injured? No, this was Luffy's grandfather, she was talking about.

It wouldn't surprise her if he had done this on purpose.

"I came to visit you, idiot," Naruto declared once she released the boy from her hug. "You think I was going to leave you alone to deal with Garp again? If you are going to have to go through hell then I am too," she paused, thought about her sister before quickly adding, " well until sunset because Makino shouldn't know I am with you since I am still in trouble for getting into a fight with those stupid bandits."

"Gramps isn't training me," Luffy told her as she placed his arm around her shoulder. Naruto jerked her head in surprised and raised her eyebrow at the younger boy, who had a large smile on his face. "He is making me stay with bandits."

He wasn't being trained to death that was Naruto's first thought as she took in the news delievered to her. For the past five days, she had been imagining the terrible things Garp was making Luffy do. If she had known he had been staying with bandits then Naruto would never had to wear down her floors because of her walking back and forth in her room. Luffy staying with bandits was a hell lot better than him staying with Garp, who would make her friend go through so much hellish training.

The old man had never made her look at monkeys the same way again because of his idea of training.

"Why is he making you stay with bandits?"

"Gramps says he shouldn't have left me in town since I told him I wanna become the Pirate King," Luffy explained, leaning closer to her. Naruto glanced at her wounded friend, where she could clearly see blisters forming on the soles of his feet. Shaking her head, she dropped the boy's arm and kneeled down on the forest ground. Imediately, Luffy placed his small hands on her shoulder and placed his legs on either side of her hips.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto picked the boy up with a weary smile playing on her lips.

"Y'know your Gramps seems to forget you are as stubborn as him," she declared to him as they jumped over one of the tree branches. "It has been two months since Shanks left and ya still haven't stop yalping about how you are going to become the Pirate King. I know ya Luffy and I know nothing will stop you from becoming the Pirate King. Taking ya out of the town won't stop you from becoming one of the best pirates out there."

"We are gonna be the best pirates out there," Luffy said hotly and Naruto knew if he wasn't exhausted from his wounds that the boy would try to cross his arms. "You are gonna be a pirate with me."

"Y'know you can't tell me what to do, Luffy." She twisted her head, gazed at her friend's bright, innocent eyes and continued on with a smile on her face. "What if I don't wanna be a pirate? What if I wanna continue to live here and be a barmaid like Makino-neechan? You can't expect me to drop everything so I can go with ya."

"But you don't wanna be a barmaid."

 _That isn't the point!_ Naruto thought to herself as she looked into her friend's determined eyes. It was true she didn't want to be a barmaid like her big sister, who always had a smile on her face even when dealing with customers, who were being too forceful. She would have to act feminine because it would be hard for her to get any customers with her bad temper as her mother and sister would point out to her. She would be forced to serve drinks to men who would think it was alright to look at her because she worked in a bar. Her mother may have had a temper like hers but she had been beautiful enough that people could overlook her temper.

With the whisker birthmarks painted on her face, Naruto would never ever get the customers to forget about her temper.

"My point is Luffy is that you shouldn't force people to become a part of your crew," Naruto explained, staring up at the clear blue sky. "It ain't nice thing to do cuz when someone says no then ya should accept it. But if t ya know they want to join ya but have some excuse on why not then ya should try to find a way to make them come with you."

"But you will join me, won't ya?"

Would becoming a criminal be worth it? The Marines were not kind to the people related to a pirate. Naruto would know this because she could remember hearing her parents talking about a tradgey which resulted to the deaths of over many pregnant women. She vividly recall the way her mother's eyes burned with pain as her father reminded her of how cruel the World Government was. _They would murder any woman suspected of carrying Gol D Rogers kid because of his crimes. What is to say they won't try to experiment on her if someone finds out how she came here?_ Naruto had been four at the time but even then she could remember the fear shining through her father's blue eyes as he stared at her mother.

Why would someone want to kill a baby?

" _Because mortal fear things they do not understand. They fear the idea of a monster replicating and producing another little monster which can terroize them,"_ a voice whispered in her mind as she took another step forward. Naruto blinked her eyes and jerked her head, only to hit Luffy's chin. The blonde grimaced and glanced at Luffy, who was staring at her with dropping eyelids. " _You would have the same fate as the puny mortal child if it weren't for_ _her_."

The voice sounded familiar, Naruto mused to herself as she jumped over a tree's roots. He sounded almost like the fox in her dreams excpet his voice did not sound like a screaming banshee. However, she could still hear the hints of cruelty and mockery in the voice. The fox in her dreams sounded exactly like the voice in her head. If she was insane, she would have played with the idea that the fox was still lurking in real life. She would imagined the fox was in her mind, ready to toy with her but Naruto was not insane.

There was no way she could have a fox inside of her.

"Naruto, you are apart of my crew, aren't ya?"

"Who the hell is going to take care of ya if not me?" Luffy grinned at her response and hugged her body even tighter. If she didn't know Luffy had just been through hell then Naruto would have added she was just going to be there until he found a crew member that Naruto knew would take care of her silly brother. Once she found that crew member then and only then would Naruto leave Luffy alone.

She could not allow him to know she was being haunted by a voice.

"Hey Luffy...where the hell do I go?"

The sheepish smile on her friend's face was enough for Naruto to think she was making the best choice when it came to their future. She didn't know anything about the voice inside her head but she did know, in some strange way, it could make her cause harm to him.

No way could she allow him to get hurt by her.

* * *

Placing Luffy down on the ground, Naruto watched her best friend banged on the wooden door before glancing at the scenery around them, where she could spot several animals eyeing them with hunger in their eyes. She glared at them and nodded her head in satisfaction when the animals crept back into the trees. There was no way she was allowing Luffy and her to get killed when she spent nearly eight hours trying to locate her friend's home.

The next time Luffy was going to get chase by wolves, Naruto was going to tell the boy to leave a trail so she had some idea on how to get back to his home.

She stood up straight when the door swung opened to reveal a man who looked too much like one of the chickens that the farmers in their town reared. The man blinked and blinked his eyes as he stared at Luffy, who had now went back to leaning against her shoulder, before glancing at her. He scanned her up and down, eyes lingering on her face and arms, before looking back at her friend's battered body.

"Luffy came back alive!" The man finally called out, curling his lips into a frown. "Not only did he come back alive but he brought a girl with him!"

Two other people appeared when the chicken-man declared her presence to them. The first person to appeared was a woman, who Naruto would declare as the ugliest old lady that she ever met, and a man, who had to be even shorter than the nice old priest in her local church. Both of them gawked at the sight of her and Luffy though their eyes seemed to linger more on Luffy. It was easy to see why since her friend had wounds that no normal person could survive from.

"He's still alive!" The woman yelled, waving her hands up in the air. "And who the hell is this tiny girl?"

Naruto clenched her teeth together and curled her hands into a fist as she stared up at the mountain of a woman, who narrowed her eyes at her. This was Luffy's foster mum, she reminded herself, she was not someone she was allowed to punch. She was going to be someone Naruto had to deal with if she wanted to hang out with Luffy. This was someone her sister might have to deal with because Makino would visit Luffy whenever she had the chance. Her sweet sister should never get bullied because she was the kindest and nicest person in the whole world.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, Dadan," Naruto answered with a forced smile on her face. Dadan furrowed her eyebrows and scowled at Naruto when she took another step towards her. "I am Luffy's friend from the town."

"Naruto? I heard of you," she looked at Naruto's muddied pants before glancing at her long golden hair. "Weren't you supposed to be a boy?"

Naruto scowled and crossed her arms at the orange-haired woman, who had an ugly frown on her face. How could someone mistake her for a boy? She might not be the most girly girl there was but her long hair and the occasional dress she wore should be enough for people to think she was a girl. Maybe she should have listened to her sister when she said she should act a little bit more like a girl. If she had done that then no one in the town would have mistaken called her a boy.

"Weren't you supposed to be a man?" She retorted once she finally regained some form of control of her temper.

"Where'd you hear that, you little brat?"

Naruto jerked her finger at Luffy before looking back into the furious eyes of the large woman in front of her. The woman twisted her lips into a snarl before stalking towards her best friend, who was now lying on the floor with his mouth hanging open. She should feel bad for sending his foster mother after him but the fact they had spent more than eight hours searching for his home was enough for her to forget it. They could have came to this place earlier if he hadn't gotten distracted by their surroundings.

"Ya name isn't very feminine," one of the thieves informed her as the two of them watched Dadan slapped Luffy awake. He had a small friendly smile playing on his lips as he looked down at her. "Then again no female would do what ya did for Luffy."

The blonde nodded her head. "If Luffy was their best friend then any girl would do what I did for Luffy since best friend would do anything to make sure their friend is alright," she rubbed the back of her neck. "I went through this mountain because I thought Garp was making him do something insane again...like beating up monkeys."

"He made Luffy beat up monkeys?"

"The monkeys were beating up Luffy," Naruto corrected with a grin on her face. " The first time you see it, you will laugh ya head off since it looks kinda funny but then after the second time ya want to help him out since the monkeys were being mean to him."

The bandit looked at her like she was insane but the blue-eyed girl just shrugged her shoulders and looked around the living room she was in. There were no pictures of anyone living here, Naruto mused to herself, noticing just how bare the walls were here. How did they remember the good times if they have no pictures? She asked herself as she stared at the bare walls around her.

If there were no pictures of her smiling parents then Naruto would have forgotten what her father looked like. Her father had died when she was just six years old from an incurable disease. The last memories she had of the man was him reassuring her that everything was going to be fine. He made her promise him to become a strong woman who took no crap from no one. He told her how proud he was of her and how he wanted her to know just how happy he was she was in his life.

The very same night her father passed away in his sleep.

She slapped her cheeks and reminded herself how her parents wouldn't want her to be sad. Death was apart of life as a customer would tell her when she cried about her mother's death. The death of your parents would not be the first death you experienced, the customer would tell her as he gestured for her to take a seat beside him. It might be painful but you must move past it or else you would never live your life.

She did not knew if the customer told her this so she could stop crying her heart out or if he wanted to be comforting because if it was the latter then he was in no sense comforting.

"...Oi brat since you brought the little shit back, you take him to his room!" Naruto blinked her eyes at the orange-haired woman who had her eyes fixed on the black-haired boy, who was now rubbing his eyes. The blue-eyed girl bit back the retort which threatened to come out and nodded her head. As long as she allowed her to see Luffy then Naruto would try to keep her temper in check.

"Y'know I ain't one of your little minions right?"

Okay, she couldn't keep her temper in check.

The orange-haired woman scowled and jerked her finger towards the corridor. Scowling at Dadan, Naruto walked towards Luffy and scooped him up into her arms to the protest of the little boy. She narrowed her eyes at Luffy, which caused her friend's normal tan skin to become white as a ghost. There was no way she could let him walk when she knew he could barely stand up properly.

"You tell me where your room is and the next time I visit ya, I will bring ya as much meat as I can from the bar." Luffy licked his dried lips and vigorously nodded his head at her. The best way to get anything done with her friend was to use meat that was something Naruto learnt when she promised to give him all of the meat her sister cooked for her if he just took a bath.

She really should have bribed him with meat when they were walking through the woods because they might have arrived back here earlier if he hadn't gotten distracted.

 **~X~**

"Are ya ever going to tell me how the hell you ended up being chased by wolves or how you even fell off a cliff?" Naruto finally asked Luffy after she placed him on his futon. She tilted her head when she caught sight of another boy sleeping on the futon beside Luffy. She shook her head and reminded herself not to look at the boy sleeping besdie Luffy before focusing her attention on the tired little boy in front of her. The question had been bothering her from the moment Luffy told her about how he ended up with the brusies all over his body. She would have asked him in front of Dadan but the blonde knew the woman had no care to find out how her friend got so injured. "Cuz I am starting to regret the idea of bringing ya back here since Dadan doesn't seem to care about ya."

"I fell off a bridge," Luffy answered, shrugging his shoulder at her. Naruto frowned and stared into her friend's dark eyes, where she could see her reflection staring right back at her. The fact he was not making one of those funny faces at her told her he was not lying about this. But how did he fall off? She asked herself as she flickered her eyes at Luffy's injured head. Did he saw something interesting again and decided to follow it without seeing where he was going? It wouldn't be the first time this happened to him.

"One of these days Luffy, ya going to give me a heart attack." Luffy grinned and laughed at her words which made her smile at him. Shaking her head at him, Naruto glanced at the boy sleeping beside her friend. Who was he? Was he Dadan's son? Cuz if he was then he was prettier than any kid she thought the woman might had. She felt her lips twitched into a smile when she caught sight of the freckles decorating the boy's face.

It looked kinda nice on him.

"That is Ace," Luffy yawned, drawing her attention away from the boy. He rubbed his tired eyes, shot her a smile and looked at the boy beside him with so much fondness that it almost made Naruto's heart clenched in pain and jealously. She thought she was the only one who could get those kind of looks. "He is my new friend, Naruto."

She waited till Luffy fell asleep before taking beside Ace's futon. This was the boy who was going to take care of her best friend when she was not there for him. He was going to be another person who could help fill Luffy's lonely life. He might even be better than her because at least he could always be there for Luffy.

"I don't know you but if you are Luffy's friend then you must be good cuz Luffy won't be friends with meanies," Naruto said to the sleeping boy. She looked up at the ceiling before glancing right at her best friend, who snored so loud that she was surprised Dadan hadn't came in to yell at him. She cleared her throat and continued. "I am not there for Luffy anymore cuz Garp was being mean and decided to take him away from our home. Y'know thanks to Garp, I can't always keep an eye out for him so I am gonna rely on ya to keep him out of trouble."

She glanced down at him and wondered if it would be weird if she counted how many freckles the boy had. Shaking her head, Naruto continued. "Luffy always seems to find trouble which is why ya gonna need to keep an eye on him cuz he is gonna do something real stupid and get killed for it. He might even annoy the hell out of ya cuz he will bug you about it even when ya tell him no but he will give you so much fun that ya can forget about it. I don't know if you realize this but Luffy is real stubborn. My sister says he got it from Garp but I think it is cuz he knows what he will lose if he gives in."

Naruto placed her hands around her knees and curled herself into a little ball. "He will also make ya laugh so hard that you will forget all your worries," she informed him and to her irritation, she could feel tears forming in her eyes. "Y'know you are lucky to have him by your side cuz Luffy will always be there for you. He might be selfish at times and really annoying but ya can trust him to have your back," she took in a another deep breath. "Guess I am trying to tell ya that I want you to take care of my annoying friend cuz I am not there to take care of him anymore."

With those words, she pushed herself off the futon and gave one last glance at the sleeping boy. "I am glad he will have a cute nice boy like you looking after him cuz now I won't ever have to worry about how lonely he will be here."

Maybe it was just her imagination but for just one second Naruto thought she saw the boy opened his eyes at her. She thought she saw dark brown eyes staring right back at her but it must have been her imagination because when she blinked her eyes, the boy had his eyes shut.

She wondered if the boy had eyes that were as nice as the freckles decorating his face.

* * *

 **A/N: Please review and tell me what you think.**


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